Question on analysis and comparision of Single Thread Performance results

[MSX]

Hello, I am a newbie here and I need your help:

According to PassMark CPU Single Thread CPU Performance results list:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 has got 1337 score in Single Thread Performance
Intel Core i7-7700K has got 2583 score in Single Thread Performance

So what will be increase in performance in running the same single threaded application (in % or times) if I move from E8600 to 7700K?

Thank you

[Richard (PassMark)]

In general, the bigger the number the faster the computer, the results are not a percentage figure but they are relative figures. So a computer with a CPU result of 4000 can process roughly twice as much data as a computer with a result of 2000. So in your case, computing wise, you should see roughly twice the performance as well. But you should also keep in mind, this is probably optimal scenario, other factors may affect real performance such as if your application relies heavily on disk IO.

More detail explanation on the CPU Mark can be found here, https://www.passmark.com/support/per...st_results.htm

[MSX]

Thank you very much for this explanation. Now I have a better understanding.

[MSX]

Focusing on single threading performance, I had one more question:

What is considered perceptible performance gain of one processor over another for a user?
I heard somewhere that it's worth upgrading if performance gain exceeds 20-30% or more, how true is this statement?

For example, comparision 1:

Processor A - Intel Core i7-8700K @ 3.70GHz = 2708 scores in Single Thread Performance (currently #1 in Single Thread Performance rating)
Processor B - Intel Core i7-4790K @ 4.00GHz = 2531 scores in Single Thread Performance
So, the processor A is about 1.07 times or 7% faster in data processing than the processor B.
Is this considered perceptible performance gain and worth upgrating for a single-threaded application user?

Another comparision 2:

Processor A - Intel Core i7-8700K @ 3.70GHz = 2708 scores in Single Thread Performance
Processor B - Intel Core i5-3550 @ 3.30GHz = 1970 scores in Single Thread Performance
Now the top rated single performance processor A is about 1.3 times or 30% faster in data processing than the mainstream 6 years old processor B.
Is this considered perceptible performance gain and worth upgrating for a single-threaded application user?

[David (PassMark)]

It depends on how you use the PC. There is no fixed level.

But it is nearly impossible to compare in any case. If you were upgrading from a 6 year old machine. Likely the RAM and the hard drive would also be much faster. Going from a HDD to a M2 SSD can't be 10x speed increase. So small CPU gains are noticed compared the massive disk speed gains.

Plus with new CPUs you often get more CPU cores, new CPU instructions (which help in certain niche applications) and better power management.

[MSX]

Thanks a lot for your answer.